Life coaching – alternative therapy a mainstream success

Taking personal accountability is a beautiful thing because it gives us complete control of our destinies. Heather Schuck

There are three types of people in this world. Firstly, there are people who make things happen. Then there are people who watch things happen. Lastly, there are people who ask, what happened? Which do you want to be? Steve Backley

In a world fast moving towards alternative approaches to modern medicines and therapies, life coaching is becoming one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In fact, according to the Life Coaching Institute it has been the second fastest growing industry over the past three consecutive years! This week Happiness Weekly looks at what Life Coaching actually is and examines how this field of expertise can help you.

What is life coaching?

According to Wikipedia, Life Coaching is a training or development process that supports an individual while they achieve a specific personal or professional competence result or goal. Coaching differs from mentoring by focusing on competence specifics as opposed to general overall development.

Who can be a coach?

Anyone can be a life coach but it helps to have some life experience in the area you wish to go into. For example, someone over the age of 30 who has worked hard to lose a significant amount of weight and is passionate about sharing their knowledge to help others achieve the same results and success – this person may make a great wellness coach. In short, if someone has a passion and/or very loud, genuine message and have had solid experience in the area they wish to coach, then this would be a fantastic basis for looking into joining this field.

Benefits of seeing a life coach

You will come away feeling empowered and having the tools to take forward into the future with you which may prevent you from repeating the cycle. It’s about developing a person rather than imposing and it’s more reflective than directive as what you will experience with a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Not every life coach is completely alternative – it’s not all about the inner child, bright white healing lights, positive affirmations and meditation. Life coaches come from all walks of life. Many of them are known to be “wounded healers” who statistically are more beneficial to their clients when compared to a life coach, psychologist or psychiatrist who hasn’t had the experience in the area they’re supporting people. A ‘wounded healer’ essentially means the life coach has experienced the suffering in the area they’re now working in and have now healed, for example domestic violence or addiction. While some life coaches are really into natural therapies and remedies, others take a more practical approach to healing that all clients, including those who tend towards traditional therapies over alternative therapies, can appreciate.

A psychologist or psychiatrist understand the background, and will often have a general overview of psychological conditions, and issues associated, they’re fantastic at tracing back to the root cause of the issue and helping overcome trauma from the past that reoccurs through life, and while a life coach can also assist in this area, a life coach is generally better equipped to be able to assist clients to move forward from their experience in practical ways.

Generally it’s passion that drives someone to becoming a life coach. They may have experienced something that forced them to take on a big life change and they want to share their knowledge from their experience with others. It’s also a fast way to get qualifications and start assisting people from your experience. Coaching also has a forward-focussed model, so there’s no need to go over the scenarios that happened in too much depth, but instead concentrate more on what’s affecting you now and how you can move forward or get “unstuck”.

Finding the best life coach for you

Finding a good life coach who will be able to assist you in the area you need most guidance is essential. If you are looking to figure out which way to go with your toxic relationship but don’t know where to start, a life coach who specialises in a financial field may not be able to assist as well as a life coach who specialises in healthy relationships. Having said that, life coaches are generally connected with other life coaches and they may be able to refer you to someone if they can’t directly assist.